Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This seems to be the year of the mattes. Everyone's doing them now. KO, OPI, Zoya and MAC are all coming out with more mattes soon and I'm sure a few other companies will jump on board before the end of the year.

I have been enjoying matte polish for a very long time. My old 'signature' shade was Maybelline Matte Olive. (Thank you, kind-hearted friend -you know who you are- for allowing me to enjoy this polish once again!)

If you are a matte lover like me, you'll know it was impossible to find any matte polish at all after the Orlys, Maybellines and Cover Girls were discontinued. All hope was lost. And then, ManGlaze was invented.

ManGlaze is marketed mainly toward men and it's not for the faint of heart. It is truly a rock star polish. It currently comes in two shades:

The Death Tar. Formerly called 'black' (and I think it even had another name before that). It's an asphalt-black matte. It's not just a plain, flat black. It's flecked with shimmer and little particles that make it look like a little piece of blacktop on your nails.

Fuggen Ugly. Formerly known as Grey (and something else before that). Matte grey with the same shimmery flecks and particles as The Death Tar. This shade makes me think of metal. It reminds me of the time I put a non-dishwasher safe part of my coffee maker into the dishwasher and when it came out, all the shiny coating had been removed. That's what this looks like. Raw metal.

The whole point of these polishes it to be matte. Their tagline is "Glossy has been cancelled." But... I just couldn't resist seeing what they look like with topcoat, and they're truly a sight to behold.

The Death Tar with topcoat. You're going to want to look at the full size images for these. It's awesome. It seems like the topcoat makes the black in The Death Tar even richer and deeper. Applying topcoat seems to release a multitude of multicolored sparkling particles. This is so sparkly that it almost looks holographic. You can see the colors shift in the shimmer- red, blue. orange, green... Perhaps they're tiny, tiny holographic flakes and not just rough silver shimmer?

Fuggen Ugly with topcoat. Just like The Death Tar, this one comes to life and becomes richer and more vibrant with the topcoat. The sparkles are outrageous. It's glittery but there's no glitter. It's smooth as glass. These pictures seem to show the prismatic effect of the shimmer a little better.

The application on these is fantastic. They're right in the middle of thick and thin texture-wise. They don't run or streak or bubble. They need two coats for optimum opacity. The drying time on them is super fast. You don't use topcoat with these polishes (that would destroy the matte finish) but even without my beloved Seche Vite, this polish dried completely within ten minutes. Out of all the mattes I've worn, these seem to wear the best. They resist chipping and tipwear very well, but depending on how rough or gentle you are on your nails, wear time can vary. I don't usually wear polish for more than a day or two, but every time I've worn these for more than a day they haven't chipped.

A few people have asked me about the texture of these once they're dry, and the best I can describe it as is paper. Like rubbing your finger across a sheet of printer paper. It's smooth, but not glossy smooth like photo paper, and not rough like construction paper... It's about the texture of plain printer paper or notebook paper.

I love these polishes. I love everything about them. I love the artwork on the bottles, and even the ingredients list that comes inside the shipping box. Take a look at your address bar when you visit the website. This company has a sense of humor and that's one thing that is SERIOUSLY lacking these days. I really appreciate that about ManGlaze. Above all, ManGlaze is pretty badass and that scores major points with me. It also helps that the guy who did their label, Joe Simko, also did artwork for a bunch of my favorite bands. It was love at first sight.

On top of the great product, they have really great customer service. Friendly and very quick to respond. Another thing that most companies lack.

16 comments:

Your old pics must have not been that bad. I told my boyfriend about Manglaze and I showed him the pics and he wants a bottle of the Death Tar. He watches me paint my own nails all the time, and now he wants me to paint his!

I don't own any matte polishes yet so I'm still sort of on the fence about them - they really seem to have divided the NB community! No doubt I'll give in at some point out of curiosity...but I do love them with the topcoat on despite kicking myself about how it defeats the object! They look fab either way though - I can see why you like them so much.

These are cool either way. I am going to wait until the Zoyas or Opis come out, since I can find them both here in T.O. I am trying not to buy too much, but it is hard with all the pretty pics you and the other nail-bloggers post....or maybe I have no self-control :).

I am starting to give away some of my polish, btw...I am trying not to change it every day, and I want to wear each colour at least once for a couple of days. Don't worry, I am just giving away dupes to polish loving friends...no drastic downsizing for me :)!

I've had both of these for awhile and I really like them with a top coat. The matte finish is cool, but seems unfinished. I think it's unsettling because instead of looking down and seeing shiny nails or sparkly nails you see a sort of LACK. But it's very different if you are looking for a change! And I agree, the top coat makes it really unique. Different in still another way. I haven't tried any other types of matte finish, so if they expand their line I'll buy more. A brick red... wouldn't that be cool?

The ManGlaze is gorgeous. I'm sure Brooke will like the polish with topcoat on. Nixxy also wants a top coat! I like matte coat and am looking forward to all that are coming out. ManGlaze and DeathTar looking amazing with a topcoat. I don't own these but would like to.

Scrangie, I have been wearing Man Glaze for quite a while on my toenails, but I have NEVER seen it like this before! You do a ROCK STAR job on your nails!!! And wow, does Man Glaze ever look sensational with a gloss topcoat too!

I agree with many of the others here, the matte look is really a pretty cool alternative to gloss. For guys especially, who think gloss is for girls, the matte works quite well. I am also very glad that others (OPI and Zoya) are introducing matte shades because the two Man Glaze colors are becoming a bit 'dated'.